Frigidaire FAA055P7A Compact Small-Room Air Conditioner with Remote Control
by Frigidaire
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Frigidaire FAA055P7A Compact Small-Room Air Conditioner with Remote Control
Customer Review: Clean efficiency in a white box
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an excellent high-efficiency budget air conditioner for small to medium sized rooms. The fan speed is adjustable so that the unit can push cold air further into a room at higher speed.
I really like all the options available in the controls. You can have it run as long as you want, or you can set it to run on an internal timer or according to an internal thermostat.
The on/off button is easy to use and the whole control panel responds well to presses. I don't feel ignored by this control panel.
In addition to setting the fan speed, you can set the thermostat from 60 up to 90, or you can set the unit to run the fan only, without cooling the air.
Also, there is an energy efficient mode which turns off the cooling system when the thermostat reads the right temperature, but the fan keeps running for 3 minutes, to continue moving air over the inactive but still-cold compressor. Then at 10 minute intervals the fan turns on for another 3 minutes and continues like that until the temperature goes high enough to activate the compressor again.
There is Clean Air button that turns on a little electric air purifier in the unit. A good bonus for allergy sufferers which I keep on all the time.
There is a sleep button that works with the thermostat settings. When the sleep button is pressed, the unit continues operating. 30 minutes later, the thermostat is set 2 degrees higher. 30 minutes after that again, it is set another 2 degrees higher, so it is more efficient while you sleep. The unit will then operate with the thermostat at that higher level for 7 hours, and then turn off sleep mode automatically, returning to the original thermostat setting, before the sleep button was pressed. I don't know anyone who sleeps a full 8 hours, so the sleep mode can be deactivated with the press of the button.
The unit reminds you when to change the filter by turning on a light. The reusable filter can be rinsed clean, and the button under the filter light can be pushed to reset the timer, which runs for 250 hours of operation before lighting again.
There are two control features that I don't like so well.
First, there is the mode selection button, which controls which of the three modes you are in: "Cool", "Energy Saver", and "Fan Only". I would have preferred two buttons, to go up or down the list, instead of only down. It's a minor pet peeve for me.
Second, I think the controls beep too loud when pressed, and I don't think there is a way to adjust volume.
Another thing I dislike is how the timer can only be set in half-hour increments up to 10 hours, and then 1 hour increments up to 24 hours. I would have liked to select smaller time slices, like 10 minute intervals. That makes it a longer process to program the timer, but gives me more control. However, since I normally use the thermostat mode, this is not really an issue for me anyway.
Be careful about putting furniture directly in front of the plug. The plug itself looks good and the cord comes out the bottom, but the reset and test buttons are not placed deeply enough into the plug box, so they can be accidentally pushed. This may turn off your unit, and the instructions say not to use the test and reset buttons to control the operation of the unit.
The unit seems to generate an average amount of sound. It does not sound any louder or quieter than an average air conditioner.
Customer Review: Disappointed, but problem seems solved.
Summary: 3 Stars
Let me start of by saying that i had high anticipation for this air conditioner upon purchasing it. I always wanted to try out a 'Frigidaire' A.C because of its well known establishment with other fine appliances.
I have always been using the low--mid end brands such as; Haier, Samsung and Carrier. And whilst they had little to none problems, their quality and pricing tends to be a bit too redundant for my liking. At $135, you'd think this small compact sized A.C unit is too good to be true, right? Well.... here's my story and what has happened so far.
Upon receiving the this item, I was very ecstatic about owning a Frigidaire product + something decent to replace my 4 year old busted down Haier(which ran its course well) I inspected around and noticed there was a tiny dent in the back of the A.C. It's like someone give it a quick punch on the lower corner. This didn't concern me too much.
Anyways.... I hooked this thing up, installed the side vents and what not. By the way, the instructions on this A.C is semi-terrible. The illustrations are a bit perplexed and can be frustrating if one does not generally know the concept or have experience with prior installation experience. So i put the power cord in a clean wall outlet. Everything seemed to be working in order, the compressor kicked in after 4 min or so and it started cooling pretty efficiently to my surprise. The day i received this unit was on April 22, so it wasn't that hot that day so i decided to turn it off.
A week later when it started warming up, I turned this A.C on and 2 min later...... "DAAAAAWEEEEERM" [I'm over-exaggerating, it did not sound like that at all. lol.] but it just completely shut down and would not turn back on. It seemed when i pressed the 'Reset' button, it would automatically pop out and the green light would not display anymore. I've tried relentlessly to get it working, but nothing could be done... the switch kept clicking out no matter how hard i jabbed the reset button in.
I called Frigidaire tech support and they told me it was a circut-breaker or something and they would be sending me another power cord. The Custom Service was very excellent(might i add) one of the best I've ever dealt with. I was glad they could help me resolve this problem as soon as possible cause i was starting to rip my hair off because i did not want to go through the hassle of returning it.
A week later, the power cord came, but Frigidaire also gave me the number to 3 technicians around my area cause I did not want to deal with opening the case and what-not. It was free of charge since it's covered on that 1 year warranty. Today the technician finally came and installed the power cord and told me everything was good to go. It's 80 degrees here in NYC and so far, this thing is cooling my 190 sQ foot room quite decently.
The power cord issue and the cheap Plastic/not so durable parts are the only thing that bugged me about Fridgidaire. This A.C had potential to be so much better if they had worked a little harder on it. I just hope this A.C doesn't give me any more problems in the future.
Overall, I'd get this A.C if you're on a budget and need something small and compact to cool your small-med sized bedroom. If you can shell out a little bit more, go for a better reliable brand that has quality built material. I give this A.C a 3/5.
Customer Review: Good, but not great.
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought two of these units to help supplement my apartment's lousy central a/c, which doesn't properly cool my office or my bedroom in the long, hot Texas summers.
Energy efficiency was a main concern for me, and this one has the highest EER of anything else I found on the market.
As for power, I've found it to be more than adequate for a small room. Even on "energy saver" mode, my two units cool each room quickly, even at the hottest parts of the hottest days.
Noise is one area I'm a little iffy about. I rarely notice the one in my office, but when I'm trying to get to sleep in my bedroom, it can sometimes be a little jarring when the fan and/or compressor kick on, even at the lowest settings. (Note: this isn't a vibration issue. I spent loads of time and money carefully applying extra weather-stripping and other padding around every surface between the unit and the window.)
I like the idea of the air purifier, but it's impossible to say if it's actually doing anything, and I wonder how much extra power it uses up. And since the only "filter" is basically a piece of cheesecloth on a plastic frame, I really doubt it's able to catch "pollen and impurities", as advertised.
The side panels are useless. You can actually see daylight coming through the gaps between the adjustable frame and the accordian-style baffles (which means hot air is free to blow in, ruining the efficiency of the unit). Plus, even with considerable effort, I never got the side panels to properly line up with the window frame. My solution was to cut a couple panels of styrofoam insulation to fit in front of the a/c's panels, and then caulk around them for an air-tight seal.
I'd love to find a model that is programmable (even a $20 thermostat for a central air unit allows you to set custom temps for particular hours and days of the week). But this unit, like most in its class, only has very primitive (and largely useless) timing features. Another annoying issue about the controls are the lights. Every button has a bright green light showing the current selection, which all stay on as long as the unit is powered-up. Combined, it's enough light to cast shadows in my bedroom (almost as bright as a typical night-light)... very annoying. Even more silly, it's not like you can actually USE the control panel in the dark, because none of the LABELS for the buttons are lighted. I wish the panel would go to "sleep" after a few minutes of inactivity, or the lights were a whole lot dimmer. Or removed altogether.
So, in terms of power and efficiency, it definitely gets the job done. But there are plenty of details that need improvement, and if you're a light sleeper, you might want to consider another product for your bedroom.
Customer Review: Better than expected from Frigidaire (but don't expect much)
Summary: 3 Stars
Frigidaire is not traditionally the best brand of ACs, to put it mildly, and I personally have horror- stories to tell about two(!) $600 Frigidaire ACs. But, I needed a small window unit, my local stores didn't carry any nice brands, and Amazon didn't ship anything else at the time either. So, I read some good reviews and bought it anyway.
The machine is "ok". It cools my small bedroom well, and it uses not too much power doing so. To be specific, it uses about 430 Watts when the compressor is on, and 50 Watts on fan-only (measured myself). My 10000BTU AC uses almost 3 times the current at only twice the cooling power, so this is definitely an efficient machine, which will be as easy on your power bill as possible at this time.
I do find it fairly loud. I realize that is a subjective statement, but I'm sure that the Panasonic and LG brands in my old apartment were quieter. I also wish it had one lower fan setting, to perhaps further make it bedroom- compatible. The Med and Hi settings are definitely unbearable at night! One thing that I found was the noise to drop audibly when I put some material in front of the intake grille to block direct noise (not right on the grille of course, leaving a few inches so it can suck in air).
This unit doesn't have an inside/outside switch, and the "8way louvres" are absolutely and completely useless - a very cheap substitution for real air directors. The remote is clunky, but it has the same intuitive 4-way switch (left/right=fan, up/down=temp) as the actual unit, so you can use it in the dark. I find that a big plus, especially for bedroom operation.
Update: after a few months of use, my unit broke down. Bad for me, good for you, because now I can report to you how the warranty works :)
You locate a local service center and give them a call. Then you need to be home for 1/2 day while repairmen come by and inspect the machine. Mine had an air leak which they deemed "not repairable". Of course this 3rd party repair company wouldn't take the unit back. I had to make multiple phone calls and send emails to Frigidaire and Amazon, while they figured out what to do with the thing. At the end, Amazon complied - and had UPS pick up the defective unit (they insisted they needed it, now matter how broken). I didn't pay any return shipping, but they did not refund the entire purchase price. I think Amazon was fair in all this, but I had to engage too many people and use too much of my time for this machine.
BOTTOM LINE: THREE STARS. If you're desperate and/or on a budget, get this. Otherwise, buy something else (not a Frigidaire, look for the Texan-made Friedrichs or Panasonics).
Customer Review: more bad than good
Summary: 2 Stars
Before buying this air conditioner I did a lot of "research". I especially found the reviews here at Amazon "helpful" because the unit got 4 stars from a combined total of 81 people. (pretty impressive) I read many of them and in none of the ones I read was there a mention of the outside vents so I'll put my rant here. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING! The people who designed this unit must have been sleeping the day they did. (But not with this air conditioner in the room.) The outside vents are so large that the sunlight come in and shines in the room through the inside vents lighting up my bedroom. My bedroom faces the east so as soon as the sun rises a bit 'till about 1pm when it passes over my apartment building, the light coming in from the vents lights up my walls and ceiling like a very large night light. My husband and I are on the night shift so this effects us during half of our sleep. We're still scratching our heads as to how this design passed Frigidaire's quality standard. The air conditioner we replaced with this one was a Freidricks. It's outside vents were louvered (fold over each other) so the sunlight never came in AT ALL. The Frigidaire outside vents are wide open so light, debris and pigeon poop can drop inside the cabinet. I duck taped a piece of a window screen on the top opening. Possibly shaded it a bit. Can't imagine how bright the sunlight would have been in my bedroom if I hadn't.
I just installed the unit last night. It has some nice features and cooled the room nicely for sleep with a set temperature of 78 degrees but I still can't figure out the energy saver feature. Shuts the unit down to save energy but, even though the room rises about 4 degrees above the set temperature, it does not go back on for quite a while and the manual is very sparse not explaining things in detail so I stopped using that feature for now. And also, the manual is not "unit specific" so you don't know until you open the box which features are on your unit. (and no, this unit does not bring in outside air). The installation instructions (and pictures) are not that great. One of the accordion panels wouldn't attach to the unit so I had to duck tape it to the air conditioner. Either the top of the air conditioner or the top rail was warped so I had to use my own long screws in the center of the rail to attach it to the top of the air conditioner and then had to putty the space between the two so rain won't come in.
All in all, a disappointment. I expected more from Frigidaire. Maybe that's why this unit was so inexpensive for an 11.0 EER. I got it from PC Richards two weeks ago (June 2010) for $149.